Activities in 2019

Excursion to Christmas Market in Bad Homburg, Sat. December 14th

On December 14th, 2019 Goethe Welcome Centre invited international researchers to visit the beautiful and authentic Christmas Market in Bad Homburg. Amazing how just 30 minutes away from the busy city of Frankfurt, we were able to dive into a fairy tale scenery and to spend several hours at the market inside Bad Homburg's castle. Goethe Welcome Centre invited to a glass of mulled wine and a friendly chat. Afterwards everybody could explore the market individually. Things became even more magic when the sun went down and the market lit up with the warm light of garlands and the spicy smell of mulled wine and German food specialties.

Awarding ceremony “Seeing Hessen": Tues., November 19th
 

We awarded the best five photographs in the fourth edition of our photo competition Seeing Hessen. The photographs are displayed in our premises in the Bauleit building.


Excursion to Marburg: Sat., November 16th

On Saturday, 16th of November we visited Marburg, a small university town with great history in Hessen. We learned about princess Elizabeth's contribution to Marburg's history, giving all her life to the sick and unfortunate. The St. Elizabeth Church not only honoured her, but has an interesting history of its own. Did you know that former German president Paul von Hindenburg and his wife are buried here? We also learned about the history of the university of Marburg, one of the oldest still operating Protestant universities of the world. Today the university dominates the town's life, as students make up one third of Marburg's inhabitants. After a traditional lunch in the old town of Marburg we walked up the hill to the castle of the Landgrave. A beautiful view all over Marburg and its surroundings was awaiting us. Fortunately the weather was sunny and not too cold, so our visit was very comfortable.A guided tour in the castle acquainted us to the early history of Marburg and the life of the Landgrave. After a great experience we headed home to Frankfurt.

Frankfurt by Night: Fri., November 08th
 
On an even more rainy day than in June, we met in the inner city to visit the cozy apple wine bar “Apfelwein Klaus" to drink a few glasses of apple wine and had typical Frankfurt dinner. We moved on to a wine bar afterwards to enjoy a late drink together.


Orientation Day: Thu., October 31st





On October 31st, the Goethe Welcome Center (GWC), the Graduate Academy (GRADE)  organized an Orientation Day for the new international Researchers and PhD Candidates. The participants were provided with a detailed introduction to GU's administrative structure by some of the most relevant central administrative units for PhD Candidates and International Researchers. Several  members of GU's central administration gave an informative overview on the services they offer and where to find helping hands.


Frankfurt Guided City Tour: Sat., October 26th

On Saturday the 26th of October 2019, the  guided Frankfurt city tour for international researchers of the Goethe University in Frankfurt took place. The on foot journey started by visiting the Main Tower which provided the international researchers with a chance to get a wonderful overview of Frankfurt. The Paulskirche, home of the first Frankfurt Parliament (Frankfurt National Assembly), Frankfurt stock exchange, Frankfurt Old Town, and several other locations were visited as part of the journey. Crossing the The Eiserner Steg (the beautiful bridge connecting the Frankfurt old town to Sachsenhausen), the tour ended in a typical Frankfurter Apfelweingaststätte, where the opportunity to explore different traditional Hessian dishes and the famous Appel Wine was provided.


Excursion to the Opel Zoo: Sat., July 13th

On Saturday, 13 of July 2019 Goethe Welcome Centre organized an excursion to the amazing Opel Zoo. This Zoo is the second biggest zoological garden in the Rhein-Main region. It was established in 1956 by Georg von Opel as a research enclosure. Opel Zoo is financing its needs only with money for entrance tickets and donations. Our international researchers had an opportunity to explore the territory in their own pace. They had a chance to observe different wild animals and the highlight of our visit were little cubs of cheetahs that were born in June 2019. Moreover, our researchers with children could visit a petting zoo on the territory of Opel Zoo and to ride a pony or even a camel. Even rainy weather did not make our visit any boring or inconvenient.


Summer Garden Party honoring Goethe University's international researchers: Sat., July 6th


On Saturday, 06 July 2019 Goethe Welcome Centre and the foundation “Stiftung zur Förderung der internationalen wissenschaftlichen Beziehungen" invited all international researchers at Goethe University to an annual Summer Garden Party in the garden of GU's guesthouse in Ditmarstraße. More than 90 members of the international scholars' community celebrated the end of the academic year 2018/19. After words of welcome by vice president Prof. Dr. Rolf van Dyck, the chairman of the foundation Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bereiter-Hahn and head of GWC Florian von Bothmer gave a short speech. Then the Frankfurt Sinti-Swing-Quartet “Gare du Jazz" accompanied the evening and everyone enjoyed a wonderful potluck buffet of delicious national dishes prepared by the researchers.


Excursion to Wiesbaden: Saturday, June 15th

On a sunny Saturday we went to the imperial State Capital of Hessen. After a guided tour through Wiesbaden's rich history we had lunch in the old town under the sun. Then we visited the Landtag, Hessen's centre of political decision making, and learned about the current parties represented there and their policy making. To get the perfect view over Wiesbaden we went up the Neroberg using the over 130 year old funicular railway (overelaborate: "Wasserlast- und Zahnstangen-Standseilbahn"), the Nerobergbahn. 


Frankfurt By Night: Friday, June 7th


On a rainy and thundery spring evening we shared a few bembels, the traditional Hessian jug for serving apple cider, in the cozy inn "Buchwald" in Bornheim and ate typical Frankfurt dishes. We continued our lively conversations and laughter in the traditional apple wine bar "Zur Sonne" which first opened its doors in 1768.


Fulda Excursion: Sat., May 25th

On a sunny summer-like Saturday in May, we went for full day trip to the more than 1250 years old city of Fulda, the center of baroque architecture in Hessen. We enjoyed the beauty of this small but very historical Hessian city during the guided city tour and our visit to the impressing baroque Cathedral, where we enjoyed the Organ Matinee and listened to the impressive organ sound and a selection of contemporary compositions.

Frankfurt City Tour: Sat., May 18th

 

On Saturday the 18th of May 2019, the Goethe Welcome Center organized a guided Frankfurt city tour so that international researchers of the Goethe University in Frankfurt would get a chance to discover different corners and historical aspects of their city of stay, crossing it by foot! We kicked off the tour by visiting the Main Tower which provided us with a chance to get a wonderful overview of Frankfurt. Other stops on the tour included the Paulskirche, home of the first Frankfurt Parliament (Frankfurt National Assembly), Frankfurt stock exchange, Frankfurt Old Town, and several other locations. Crossing the The Eiserner Steg (the beautiful bridge connecting the Frankfurt old town to Sachsenhausen), we ended the day in Dauth Schneider in Frankfurt's Alt-Sachsenhausen, a typical Frankfurter Apfelweingaststätte, where we had the chance to try out different traditional Hessian dishes and the famous Appel Wine!


Excursion to Hanau: Sat., February 16th

On February the 16th, a sunny winter day, we visited the fairy tale city of Hanau. It is the native town of the world-famous linguists and fairy tale collectors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, and the starting point of the German Fairy Tale Route. After our short train ride to the old part of the city we were greeted by our guide, who let us immerse into the rich history of Hanau. On our way from the old, medieval part of the city to the newer part, called Neustadt, we learned of the economically and culturally importance of Hanau, it's thriving through the arrival of Calvinist refugees and the Brother Grimm's project of conserving the fairy tales of the people.

After a lunch at Hanau's prominent market place we headed to the Castle Philippsruh, which presents it's guests with an architecture in the style of the Renaissance after it's rebuilding under Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel in the 19th century. Furthermore we were lucky to see various famous paintings by the great artist Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, one of the first Jewish painters who gained world fame.


New Year's Reception: January 23rd

On 23 January 2019, Goethe Welcome Centre and the foundation „Stiftung zur Förderung der internationalen wissenschaftlichen Beziehungen“ invited all international researchers at GU to the traditional annual New Year's Reception for International Researchers at the university guest house Frauenlobstraße.

After a small reception with sparkling wine, GU's Vice-President Rolf van Dyck looked back at the year 2018 and gave an outlook on 2019. He emphasized that research can only take place successfully within a group of international researchers. Universities have to take care for best possible conditions to support researchers' mobility and their research framework. 

Afterwards, the guests enjoyed the evening with a buffet and conversations.


Visit to Ernst-May-Haus: January 19th

On the 19th of January 2019 Goethe Welcome Centre had invited our international scholars to visit a special landmark of Frankfurt on the Main, Ernst-May-Haus. During a captivating excursion, provided by the Ernst-May Society, we had a chance to get to know about an unusual and interesting period in architecture of Germany, especially architecture of Frankfurt. During the excursion through the Siedlung (settlement) Römerstadt we had learnt how the project New Frankfurt was developed. We also had a chance to explore Ernst-May-Haus that is exhibited to visitors from the inside. The house was reconstructed in 2010 in order to re-establish the original state as it was planned by the German architect Ernst May. This excursion was definitely different from common mainstream excursions in Frankfurt. Our guest scholars seemed to appreciate the authenticity, so did we at the Goethe Welcome Centre.